Team Flower

Joining Kelly today is Patience Pickner from the small town of Chamberlain in South Dakota! Even though her business is located in a small town, it has grown in size and popularity over the years. She’s here sharing what’s unique about her business and how the world of flowers is truly a “small” one. You’ll hear the principles of a good business as well as tips on how you can incorporate them in your own floral venture. Patience is also chatting about some of her design knowledge—from the systems needed to create 20 centerpieces to sympathy work to color theory. You’ll find it all (and more!) right here on the Team Flower Podcast! Patience is a floral artist and decor diva! The Picket Fence is a full-service flower shop. They're known for their nature-inspired floral designs and their romantic wedding work. They are also known across the state for their huge selection of home decor and home accents—every style, every trend, they've got it! Check out their unique business at their website or on social media @picketfencesd.

Joining Kelly on the podcast today is Matt Collins—all the way from the UK! Matt has a deep passion for taking in nature and making a garden to reflect it. He’s chatting with us about how he accomplishes this as well as giving us tips for maintaining and growing a garden—observe, grow what you love, and repeat. Fun fact: Matt is also a writer! Make sure you check out his book Forest on connecting stories of trees to their natural habitats. Matt is a writer and gardener. His main interest with flowers is seeing them growing in their wild natural habitat either at home or abroad, and then translating that to the garden, letting the environment and habitat dictate how plants should best be grown. This is the theme for his monthly column with the Daily Telegraph in the UK. And to some extent, it’s also the subject of his book, Forest. He works at the Garden Museum in central London looking after and developing the gardens. He also runs an annual traineeship programme for new horticulturists!

Hitomi is a champion for those who are entering into the floral industry—always open and sharing her knowledge and experience with anyone who asks. She has a passion for beginner florists because they are the future of the floral industry! In this episode, Hitomi is sharing the story of how she came from a path towards science to moving towards plants, and then ending in flowers—all while overcoming family obstacles. She was extremely shy and essentially taught herself how to design. In that, she’s delving into self-doubt and just how detrimental it is to your creativity. Finally, you’ll hear practical tips in multiple facets of the floral industry. From methods of teaching to color combinations, she has so much to share! You’ll be encouraged to always work towards what’s “right” in sustainability. Work towards learning how to be in 100%, even enabling clients to be environmentally conscience! Hitomi works in partnership with her son, Colin Gilliam. Their business, DESIGN358, is a floral education entity and content creator. They host virtual floristry training workshops at DesigningForExcellence.com and ElementsOfInspiration.com. And she's currently getting ready for a virtual workshop in partnership with Gregor Lersch to design 100% Organic toward Sustainable Floristry. Hitomi has travelled around the world teaching creative floristry. She is an innovative teacher with a wellspring of inspiration, especially when it comes to methods, mechanics and techniques for Flower Creatives who want to distinguish themselves from others. She is serving as the Symposium Program co-ordinator for American Institute of Floral Designers for 2022. Hitomi is all about sharing her knowledge to allow ideas, methods to evolve to something always better for the future! Ask her a question on Instagram @hitomigilliam or visit her website at hitomigilliam.com.

This is such a fun chat with Mia! She’s not only sharing her inspirational story, but she’s sharing actionable tips you can incorporate in your own floral business. You’ll hear the following (and more!): - Various types of gift boxes for your retail shop - Flower bar ideas - The beauty of bud vases - Preparing for and executing a large delivery - How everyday arrangements invite creativity Root Floral Design was founded in 2012, by owner/designer Mia Sandberg, to bring a balance between modern and classic style to the floral industry. What started off as a small little flower shop in a 250 square-foot building quickly grew into a full fledged wedding, event, and everyday floral design business. In addition to floral design, opening a storefront that had small gifts and home decor was always a dream and it finally happened in May of 2021. Follow them on social media at @rootfloraldesign and be sure to visit their website to see all of the lovely items available in the shop!

This week, Ace Berry joins Kelly on the podcast to talk all about sympathy work. Ace runs a flower shop in Fulshear, Texas, and funeral arrangements are his bread and butter! Ace is sharing tips on interacting with sympathy work clients as well as some key points for creating these types of arrangements. Changing your perspective on sympathy work impacts how you design. Don’t miss this episode. People need flowers—especially in times of grief—and you could be the one to create meaningful arrangements for them.

Mabel is joining us all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, today! It is so exciting to hear from flower professionals around the world. You’ll hear about Mabel’s process when creating a bouquet—including how to tie it off and what type of ribbon she prefers. She is passionate about conducting her business sustainably, and is sharing what is in her foam-free toolbox! You’ll even hear her number one must-have tool. Lastly, you’ll receive some pointers on managing waste in your studio. Mabel is a floral art designer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her approach to floral design is inspired by nature and all forms of art—which translates in her work to timeless, lush, romantic and naturally styled designs. She is an advocate and educator of sustainable floristry in Africa and abroad, sharing her experience and knowledge from successfully designed high-end events and weddings that are created using custom-designed, foam-free techniques. Visit her website at mabelmflorals.com and follow her on instagram @mabelmflorals.

Have you ever heard of flower frogs? No, they’re not little amphibians carrying flowers—they are actually a timeless and incredible tool used in floral design! Jessica is the co-owner of Floral Genius, the only maker of flower frogs in the U.S. She’s here to tell you all the things you need to know about flower frogs—from the different types to how to use them. In addition, she is chatting about her favorite gardening tools and gloves as well as tips on working through substitutions with clients. You’ll hear how important it is to take moments of rest and peace as we walk through this “whirl of a world.”

Today our special guest is Kelly’s dear friend (and Team Flower member) Jana Qualey! If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of opening a gift and floral shop, this episode is definitely for you. She owns and operates the cutest little shop and is sharing her story of how and why she started it. You’ll hear about the set up of the store and how her dream and passion is realized in all of it. You’ll also hear several great ideas for gifts in your own shop as well as tips on choosing flowers to sell. Listen to your customer and implement their desires into your overall theme and flow of your shop. You’ve got this! Jana and the staff at Home & Garden Vermont feature flowers, gifts, cards, jewelry, art and all things inspirational to their local community and beyond. They’re celebrating 3 years of business in the Burlington community in November 2021! Check out the beauty they have to offer on social @homeandgardenvermontor at their website.

After many years, Fiona has left the wedding world and moved back toward her first love—the garden. Tune in to hear her beautifully paint a picture of how the garden can influence your creative process for the better. She is constantly searching for lovely things in her day-to-day life, and this impacts her design greatly! She often tells her clients: “I can’t tell you what it’s going to look like until it’s made.” So what does the design process look like after this initial client briefing? Fiona is sharing with us the ins and outs of her communication with her clients as well as how she allows the flowers and her creativity lead her design.

Franceska McCaughan is one of those go-to designers in the floral industry—specifically regarding designing for hotels and corporate brands. In this episode, she joins Kelly to talk about the details behind this avenue of the industry. You’ll hear why Franceska chose to begin serving this niche market and why you should consider it, too. She’s also chatting about how to get into the hotel market, how to gain clients, and tips on understanding brand standards. Franceska McCaughan is an international flower designer providing turnkey floral solutions for luxury brands, including the JW Marriott, Fairmont Hotels, Four Seasons, Hilton Hotels, and more. In 2020 she began freelancing internationally and launched the Hotel Florist Profit Method, an online course designed to educate wedding and event florists on how to create consistent $5K months by landing hotel floral contracts. As the artistic director behind The Hotel Florist, she has combined her sense of wanderlust with her love of slinging stems, allowing her to live, work, and play in more than 47 countries and counting. You can see her incredible work at her website or on social media @thehotelflorist.

Marketing, publicity, publication. You’ve heard these terms and you know they’re important, but what are they? Where do you begin? And WHY are these things important? Meghan Ely is an expert and is here to explain it all! You’ll hear an answer to all of the aforementioned questions as well as a general step-by-step guide to pursuing your business’s publicity. Meghan is also giving a few tips on how you can determine your dazzle factors—as well as a few things you must have on your website for PR purposes! (To view the website Meghan mentions in publicity: Help a Reporter Out visit helpareporterout.com)

Joining Kelly today is Team Flower member, Lisa Schmitz of Where Pigs Fly And Such. Lisa has such a special and unique business model—floral design that supports her non-profit. Today you’ll hear about each of the following: - Tips for starting a non profit - Taking donations - Using floral design to fund a non-profit - Wording in your contract for a bride to donate flowers - Unlikely helpful tool in washing buckets (find it here!) Lisa has a love for the arts. After leaving an executive HR position in corporate America in 2018, Lisa created her floral consultancy Where Pigs Fly and such, which is part of a nonprofit community arts center that Lisa and her husband founded in a low income area of Indianapolis. As co-founder, Lisa manages the arts center, which is focused on providing arts and community outreach programming for their neighborhood. Her floral design business, that focuses on events and weddings, supports this arts center. Lisa continues to do public speaking and HR consulting, and she was recently chosen for the inaugural Art in Bloom exhibit at Newfields Indianapolis Museum of Art. Follow her on social @wherepigsflyandsuch or click here to view her website.

Janelle is a speaker at the 2020 Team Flower Conference and is the owner of Lavenders Flowers. She began her floral design journey 10 years ago and has since designed florals for over 300 domestic and international weddings. As a trained painter and fine artist (who also owns a hand-dyed textile company!), Janelle brings years of color theory to everything she does, knowing that it’s vital to leave space for the unexpected and plenty of time to play. 

Kiana is the owner of Tulipina, an internationally renowned floral design studio that specializes in creating bespoke experiences for luxury weddings and events. Her use of unique color combinations and floral varieties draws admirers and floral designers from all over the world to her sold-out workshops. Her debut book, Color Me Floral, covers the secrets to designing show-stopping monochromatic arrangements for each season. She splits her time between California and New York with her husband, Nathan, and their three children. Follow along with her floral journey on Instagram @tulipinadesign.

In this episode of the Team Flower Podcast, Kelly Mendenhall of 3 Leaf Floral is chatting about what it’s like to design for off the grid events (aka: on top of a mountain or out in a field, etc.). As you can imagine, there are countless obstacles to overcome, so you’ll hear several tips and tricks to making this type of design happen! Kelly works in extreme temperatures and is giving examples of flowers that hold up well in both hot and cold weather. And you’ll hear her absolute necessities if she on a time crunch and has only an hour to decorate an arbor! Kelly Mendenhall has been a wedding florist for over 10 years in her home state of Colorado. Her company serves the western slope including notable resort areas such as Aspen, Telluride and Moab UT. She’s located in fruit and wine country and is often in the flower farmer’s fields picking ingredients moments before the wedding day. So far she’s done everything from her home studio, raising 3 rambunctious boys while growing her company, but is hoping for a studio space in the near future!